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Monsanto's Solid Year in Seeds

The ag giant closes the books on a fine year and looks forward.

Despite having a man named Hugh Grant at the helm, Monsanto(NYSE:MON) is a serious business. Between its seeds and genomics unit, which is poised for explosive growth, and the agricultural productivity segment, which is slowing now that the Roundup windfall has peaked, Monsanto is an agricultural powerhouse. Judging by its collaborations with Dow Chemical(NYSE:DOW) and Syngenta(NYSE:SYT) on the one hand, and its legal spat with DuPont(NYSE:DD) on the other, the company is both respected and feared.

Speaking of respect, Monsanto just reported its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2009 results. On a continuing basis, both periods delivered growth over the prior year, which is more than respectable given the agricultural anxiety experienced over the past year.

Seeds and traits delivered a gross profit of $4.5 billion this year, representing 17% growth. Next year, this unit will cross the $5 billion mark as Monsanto rolls out two blockbuster products -- SmartStax corn seeds and Roundup Ready-2-Yield soybeans. And that's just the beginning, seeing as the company plans to introduce seven new products in as many years.

For fiscal 2010 earnings on an ongoing basis, Monsanto left its guidance unchanged at $3.10 to $3.30. That may not sound stellar for a company trading at $75 per share. Compared with the fertilizer shops like PotashCorp(NYSE:POT) and Agrium(NYSE:AGU), Monsanto is priced at a bit of a premium. Still, I can see the bullish case when considering the company's highly visible growth pipeline.